Publishing with a personal touch

Main menu

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Post navigation

What would William have had to do to win Kate’s hand in marriage if he had lived in Zaïre in the 1970s? He’d have had to pay a ‘bride price’ determined by Kate’s dad and deemed fair and reasonable by the whole community. And if he hadn’t managed to deliver the price by the deadline or in a manner that showed proper respect for his new father-in-law, the marriage would have been off!

That’s what Warwickshire author Ian Mathie says in his new book, ‘BRIDE PRICE’, which is launched on 2 March 2011. And he should know. Ian, who lived and worked in remote parts of Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) as a rural development officer and water resources expert, found himself in a sticky situation when he had to set the bride price for an orphan whom he fostered.

The trouble was that the suitor was no Prince William: he was a powerful man from another village, greatly feared for his violence and temper, and it was Ian himself, not the orphan girl, who was the target of his bullying scheme. “Custom dictated that I could not refuse the man’s request no matter how nasty or evil he was,” says Ian, “and meanwhile the other villagers were powerless to intervene.” So Ian was forced to rely on his wits to find a way within the rich traditions of the area to set a fair price that the man would refuse to pay.

‘BRIDE PRICE’ tells the intriguing and surprising true story of how the problem was resolved. Set in the brooding vastness of the tropical rain forest, it provides intimate insights into the lives of a little-known people and their complex relationship with their environment, the spirits and the outside world, and is sure to provide an interesting contrast to ‘The Wedding’ hype.

My friend Shirin asked how one goes about writing a memoir. So I said to her do you want the short answer or the long one? She said give me the short one for now, I don’t think my brain’s up to long yet. Just as well, I said, because that one is going to take some time. Continue reading →